Drug Parcel Scam: GMCH doctor duped of Rs 1.2 lakh by cyber fraudster
Chandigarh: In a shocking incident, a doctor working at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32 became the victim of an alleged online drug parcel scam losing Rs 1.23 lakh to a cyber fraudster pretending to be an employee of a courier company (FedEx) and officials from Central Bureau of Investigation and Narcotics Control Bureau.
The scam started with a phone call from a courier company about a 'FedEx package being seized'. The woman was told that marijuana drug was found in her package and as a result, it was seized.
The fraudster talked to the doctor several times on Skype. To make the fraud appear genuine, the fraudster was put on Skype calls posing as Customs and Narcotics officials.
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According to the victim, the incident occurred on June 1 when she received a call about a parcel containing two pairs of shoes, one laptop, three credit cards and 240 grams of marijuana. The caller claimed that the parcel was to go from Mumbai to Taiwan. Since weed was found in her package, it was seized and was lying with the Mumbai customs department.
“He asked me if I sent any package from Mumbai to Taiwan and when I denied doing so, he said that my number, name and Aadhar ID were mentioned on the package. Surprisingly, the Aadhar was right. According to the caller, the parcel contained two pairs of shoes, a coat, a laptop, three credit cards and 240 gm weed,” the complainant told police.
Following this, the doctor was connected to a call with an official from the narcotics branch who instructed her to download a Skype application for further investigation and communication.
To extract money from the doctor, the caller threatened her with a police investigation and that an FIR would be filed against her since three money laundering accounts were operational on her Aadhar ID. Pretending that both the narcotics bureau and CBI got involved in the incident, the fraudster managed to dupe Rs 1.23 lakh from the doctor.
"The person told me to transfer an amount of ₹98,426 as three money laundering accounts were operational on my Aadhar ID. I was scared and thus did what he instructed me to, as I felt that I would land in big trouble otherwise,” the victim informed HT.
Upon realising that she was duped, the doctor approached the cyber police and a complaint was filed against the fraudster under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
After an FIR was registered, the police arrested a man from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. While interrogating the suspect, the police discovered that the man was a class 12 pass.
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